Sunshine Radian vs. Britax?

[my3peanuts]

I've just started seeing these Sunshine Radians. How do they compare with a Britax?

[alegna]

Pick a britax to compare to

-Angela

[my3peanuts]

The thing is I can't find the Sunshine Kid's Radian in any stores around here. We're in a very small town. The only thing I noticed is it seems to sit much more upright and I'm not sure it would be as comfortable to fall asleep in.

[KMK_Mama]

The Radian is smaller. We would have never been able to fit the Britax Regent in our car because we need to have 3 across. The Radian and the Safeguard Go were our only options for keeping our kids in a 5 pt harness.

[angie3096]

I have a Radian. I don't like it.
My daughter is 4.5 and complains about the Radian being uncomfortable. It is not as well padded as a Britax. She loves her Britax seats (MA and Regent) and never fusses in them.
I also find the Radian to be a PITA to install with a seatbelt. It has a very narrow belt path and it's hard to feed the seatbelt through.
The only advantage to the Radian is it's size. It is very narrow so will fit places no other carseat fits. And if you need to get 3 across in a small backseat, you can usually do it with 3 Radians.
Also a Radian 65 has lower bottom slots than an Britax convertible and higher top slots so it fits both newborns and tall preschoolers better than the MA/BV/DC.
However the Radian 80 has MUCH lower top slots than a Regent, so almost every kid on the planet will outgrow the Radian 80 by height before getting anywhere near 80 pounds. If you must get a Radian, save your money and get a Radian 65.

Angie

[MissSavannahsMommy]

I also wanted to chime in and say that Radians are touch and go with compatibility. Some cars they are totally rock solid and you couldn't ask for a better install, but other cars it would take Houdini and a team of magicians to deem the car seat "safe".

I do like the Radians b/c they're smaller than the average Britax with comprable harness heights. That being said, I would trust a Britax in a heartbeat. More parent friendly features like built in lock offs, child friendly features like a somewhat reclined seating position when FFing (you can't recline, but a Radian is going to be pretty upright with a droopy head if your kiddo falls asleep), anddddd (as silly as this sounds) I don't trust a company that produces the "mighty-tite" and sells car seats. Those two just totally cancel each other out, IMO. Buuutt that's just me :

[brewgirl]

We have 2 Radians and love them. One for our 6 month old and one for my almost 4 year old. Our almost four year old has been in it for about 5 months now. We took her to try out a few different seats and she much preferred the Radian over any of the Britaxes. She felt closed in by the Britaxes.

What I like:
An adult can still sit in the back seat with both installed
After doing the install a few times, it now only takes me a few minutes to reinstall
The seat has two recline positions
Easy to travel with, as it folds down (we do a lot of flying)
Amazing customer service
Both of my daughters seem comfortable and fall asleep in them.

What I don't like:
Rearfacing, it seems to take up more space than our old convertible seats
Not as easy to use as our old Fisher Price Safe Embrace seats. Those things were amazing and I still mourn their passing.

Good luck! This was such a tough decision for us, especially since everyone seems to love the Britaxes. Ultimately though, it's about what's comfortable for my kids and installs well in my car.

[ThreeBeans]

I have both a Radian65 and Britaxes

Radian65 pluses :
1. VERY TRIM. You can fit 3 across and you can't do that with a Britax
2. Place in the back to clip in the LATCH clips if you are doing a seatbelt install
3. Foldable/portable
4. Affordable (180)

Radian65 minuses
1. Not easily installed. Really. Either LATCH or seatbelt. It takes some serious muscle and ingenuity, where as Britaxes go in easily, lickety split and rock solid.
2. The straps are VERY close together. This is a safety feature but can be uncomfortable on the neck of an older toddler/child, even with the strap pads
3. Rearfacing, takes up a HECK of a lot of space.
4. No cool seatbelt lock offs like with the Britax
5. Not nearly as padded


It's a good seat and it fills a definite niche, but it's not for everyone. I prefer Britax.